Three Things on Colts 23, Dolphins 20

Thing 1: Ryan Tannehill may have lost this shootout with Andrew Luck, but the Dolphins' rookie quarterback won even more respect within his own locker room in defeat

Tannehill stayed upbeat throughout, talking in the huddle during the final possession about how much fun the postgame celebration would be after the Dolphins went down and scored.

Three quick completions put them on the 50 at the two-minute warning, trailing by three, but the Dolphins stalled from there and fell to 4-4.

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin termed his team's pass protection "average at best" as the Colts got to Tannehill a combined eight times (six hits, two sacks).

There would be no complaining from the kid, even as he played through a painful left knee injury.

"He handled it like a champ," Dolphins left guard Richie Incognito said. "When we keep him on his feet, he can be extraordinary. We just got him hit way too much today."

Thing 2: So much for the Dolphins being one of the league's top teams in third-down defense.

The Colts converted six third downs of 10 yards or longer, burning the Dolphins when needing 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and even 22 yards.

At least twice, those completions were made well short of the first-down marker, but first Nolan Carrolland later Sean Smith failed to wrap up the receiver.

The second of those came on a third-and-11 from the Colts 5, when Colts tight end Dwyane Allen shook loose for a 20-yard pickup. The Colts, given a reprieve, marched down for what proved to be the winning points on Adam Vinatieri's 43-yard field goal with 5:58 left.

Thing 3: Luck's 433-yard explosion tied for the fourth-biggest passing day against the Dolphins in franchise history.

Tom Brady's 517 yards last season tops the list, followed by Ken O'Brien's 479-yard day for the Jets in 1986, James Harris' 436 yards for the Rams in 1976 and the tie between Luck and Dan Fouts, who threw for 433 yards on Jan. 2, 1982, the epic playoff loss to the Chargers.

Proud to say I've been in attendance for three of those four games. The only one I missed was O'Brien's, which went to overtime.